FNCC start the season with a convincing win over Pak Freiburg

After two practice sessions we were having a good feeling about the team. Few new faces joined and showed the right kind of hope to fill in for those nomads who have left FNCC since the last season. All we needed was a match to bind the team and but also to test the fitness of the older folks and match temperament of the new ones. Then came an invite from the Pak Freiburg Cricket Club (PFCC) to use the Thursday holiday of May 1 and play a game at their ground. It was a very kind gesture and despite the wet forecast everyone was looking forward to start Cricket which was abruptly cut short last season by the Swiss Cricket League. 

FNCC batted first
Vijay and I agreed that it would be better to bat first in those wet conditions. We wanted to exploit the fact that wet outfield would make it difficult to bowl. Also we were more confident of the bowling - as usual -- but later we discovered how wrong we were. I dont know if Vijay won the toss or not but we batted first. 

In the absence of Rehan, his younger brother Adnan opened with Vijay. Adnan started in the most positive way I have seen him. From the first ball that he middled he looked full of confidence. The low bounce and lack of speed and swing meant that batting looked easier but the wet and slow outfield meant batsmen were not getting value for their shots. In such situations it is easier to get frustrated and hit out in the air. But Vijay and Adnan kept their head steady and gave us a solid foundation. Adnan had a dropped catch but it was a very powerful blow and not everyone can hold that. 

After Adnan, came in Ragu to start his tenure with FNCC. He looked good in practice so he was asked to bat at number three. He made one of the most emphatic debuts for the FNCC in my memory. The first shot he played was a boundary in point region, I as an umpire was supposed to signal that, but instead I was clapping. Since that shot Ragu was impeccable. His shot selection and execution was just great given the conditions. He hit Mansoor, a high quality bowler, for three fours in an over. 

Vijay grew in confidence, given the way Adnan and Raghu batted. At time he even a secondary role but with he dominated the bowling all the way. If he can bat that well while nursing his tennis elbow I am wonder what he will do when his hand is fit. In any case Raghu and Vijay played with great mastery and brought their 100+ runs partnership. Both of them completed their well deserved half centuries. 

Saghir started where he had left. But rain interrupted the match and as we entered the filed PFCC gave their verdict that the match would be reduced to 30 overs instead of 35. We complied. But that meant that Saghir and Angelo had to rush through the remaining two over. At one point we were looking for 250+ score in 30 overs. We were restricted to 212 in 30 overs. A really good score. At that time we thought it was a fighting total given the short boundaries and PFCC batting style (cross bat slogs). 

PFCC suffered for the lack of pace in the first spell. And then they lost one of their best slow bowler -- Mohsin -- who had to leave the field because of an injured finger. Indeed with heavy ball and wet outfield slow bowling could have made a big difference. So luck somehow favoured FNCC.

PFCC innings
213 was an imposing target. We were hoping to cut the runs in the start and raise the asking rate. Both Saghir and I started with very a tight opening spell. Rizwan and Fovad were very watchful. We could have got a wicket in the first over -- but it did not hurt us much. Rizwan did not add much to his total before getting run out. In between in the fifth over we got our first breakthrough -- Fovad was beaten by the swing -- it was clearly a big wicket. 

The batsman who came in hit a powerful shot which landed the ball on sharp metal the ball was cut and unsuitable for bowling. So we were lucky to start with a new and dry ball again in 6th over. Vijay brought in Saghir. In that over Rizwan got run out. And I took Mansoor of the first ball in my next. Mansoor and Fovad both had the ability to change the course of the match but by the 7th over they were back but less than 20 one the board. We were feeling secure but you can never trust when a random player can come in and change the course of the game. So there was indeed a little bit of scare in our thinking. 

But fortunately for us, PFCC batsmen did not really play according to the situation and either were too defensive (e.g. Rizwan/Zeb) or too attacking (rest of them). From the 10th over onwards we conceded in an access of seven an over. The rash attitude of the PFCC batting and some excellent catching and perfect field placement meant that we kept getting wickets at regular interval. Every bowler who bowled got a wicket.

Moshin returned very bravely in a hope to repeat his heroics from the previous game. But by the time he came in to bat the match was far away from their grip and he was severely limited because his injury. After his departure, FNCC were clearly getting complacent. The number nine batsmen was named Bhatti. He had one of the most unusual of the stances. There was no way the bowler could see the wickets. There was no danger of getting LBW, for obvious reasons. But in his defence, despite all the wrong stance and cross bat shots the ball never really hit his pads. For three over he entertained everyone. Of course his entertainment was at the cost of ruining the bowling figures of few bowlers including mine. And that's why I was so expressive to catch him. 

We thought it was all over but the last pair had other plans. They to my thinking, played the best from the PFCC. There was no expectations from them so they did not play any rash shot and just continued to block. This was fine by us but the accumulating clouds were making everyone in FNCC nervous. Finally, after torturing us for nearly six over, Adnan got the final wickets -- it was very fitting that Adnan closed the game as he started it in the morning. 

We won but...
For FNCC it was very satisfying to start the season with a massive victory. The new guys Ragu, Sharath and Nischal played important role with their batting, bowling+fielding and fielding. Raghu was just brilliant. Sharath can become our second change bowler. And without doubt he is a very sharp fielder. NIschal did not get a chance to bat but with his fielding he saved many runs on the square leg boundary and took a much needed and brilliant catch. With these new guys FNCC looks stronger than ever. Welcome to FNCC, Raghu, Sharath and Nischal.

The victory margin of about 90 runs says that we dominated the match. But if you were in the field you would have known that it was not really true. It was an equal reflection of the quality of PFCC batting. As I said earlier from 10th over onwards we conceded too many runs. We desperately need a wicketkeeper.

Even more worrisome was the form of Rahul and Nila. We were trusting them a lot. Nila was not even a shadow of himself and failed to bowl a single legal delivery. So to start we lost an important bowler. Rahul was very erratic. So was Adnan. Both these bowlers never forgot to top up their good deliveries with generous wides. The way mine and Saghir's over were scattered all through the innings says a lot about the quality of our second line of attack. 

This time we escaped because our batting was so superb and even without needing support from Fayas and Rehan we scored so much. There is no doubt that bowlers have to raise their game and match it with the effort of the batsmen. We have the talent but we have reduce the distance between the potential and performance. 

But all in all with the kind of start we have got and kind of new players we have, I am very eagerly looking forward to the season, which might well turn out to be my last with FNCC.

A big thank to PFCC, especially to Zeb Bhai, Mohsin and Mansoor to give us this opportunity to play the game and host us so graciously. The food was great. I hope we will have more such friendly interactions in the future.

Go nomads 
खुल कर खेलो : Play with no bounds but those imposed only by the game of cricket.


right arm over
Arvind

Amateur Cricket Leagues: To join or not

In last few years another serious question has become a key part of the season planning -- whether we want to play in a league or not. League fixtures often are a sore experience given the unprofessional attitude of the players and league leadership in view of the exaggerated competitiveness of the matches. Together with this, the financial burden (usually 300-400 Euros) more than often discourages young students from joining clubs. So most teams in big cities reach a state of stagnancy and teams in smaller city remain deprived of the new talent so necessary for them to remain competitive. All in all it seems that the amateur cricket leagues they way they are run currently, are not really doing any good for the development of cricket at the club level in the south Germany. 

After a long slumber, FNCC is slowly waking up. For a small club like ours based in a small (but really beautiful) town like Freiburg, every season brings predictable challenges. For instance, every season starts with the news of player who had already left or will leave Freiburg soon. Sadly it has never happened the other way that there is a list of new players who are lining up. We usually rely on hope to get the season going. Other challenges are more manageable such as raising money for equipments, buying equipments, securing the ground contract and getting the practice going. 

In last few years another serious question has become a key part of the season planning -- whether we want to play in a league or not. 

In 2010 an amateur cricket league was floated in the state of Baden-Wuertumberg. It was supported by the German Cricket Board. There was a lot of excitement about it, perhaps being a new thing or because we were hoping for more organized and competitive games.

That season FNCC did not do too well. Still we bounced back after a disastrous start and ended up on the Vth place. In the T20 league we lost in the semifinal. We were for sure better than that. 

But we decided not to participate in the league in 2011. It was decision taken based on the way the league was being organized. First, in the name of competitiveness most teams were very hostile to each other. There was no mutual respect and winning was the sole aim as if their life depended on that. Combine this with the complete unprofessional attitude of the league leadership and untrained and unqualified umpires. Overall we thought that we play cricket more for the fun of it and love for the game and winning/losing is something that is just a part of the game. Essentially FNCC players wanted to leave the ground with a good feeling not filled with animosity towards the opposition.

Once we sat down and did the math, we found that we paid some 200+Euros to get 8/9 fixtures and in return we also lost the peace of mind that comes with playing cricket. So we decided to step out of the league. 

In 2011 we went solo and arranged out fixtures as we did without the league setup. We travelled a bit too much and played in total 12 games and lost just once. Perhaps the best season for the FNCC. It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed their cricket. So we decided to continue with the same experiment in the 2012 season.

This time around it was a bit sore experience. This was primarily because we could not arrange many fixtures. We had a great season going by cricket, but we mainly played Basel CC (multiple times -- in process forging a great relationship with them).

We noticed that most of the teams in our neighborhood in Germany and Switzerland were part of their respective league. Typically the league schedule is full and there is little space to have the so called friendly fixtures. This awareness was very disappointing and depressing. There was only one way out of this. 

But we were sure that the leadership of the Baden-Wuertemberg leagues was practically the same with different faces and therefore that league was not an option. So we decided to go with our friends in Basel and participated in the Swiss League, which we later learned was one of the two leagues currently in a legal battle over their claims to be 'the swiss cricket league'.

It started out to be a good experience, although a bit expensive in terms of money. However, the way we were treated in the semi-final of the league has completely destroyed our faith in these cricket leagues runs by amateurs and people with vested interests which most of the times lie way outside the cricket field. 

So we are back in the state to decide whether to go solo or become part of the sham some people consider a league. 

I do not want to appear a capitalistic person here. But if we do the math we find out that the participation in any league costs something in the range of 300 Euros and costs for 'Neutral Umpires' which in my view usually are the most undesirable players of their teams. In addition we have buy the so called league balls. So all in all we get to pay something in the range of 600 Euros. The 'other' swiss leagues costs go as far as 800 euros. 

In return what do we get? Guaranteed fixtures in the range of 6-10 matches depending on number of teams and how far we proceed in the league. There is not real prize money for the clubs who win or reach to the semifinals. Clubs like ours are always strapped for money and increasing membership fees only dissuades new players from joining. Moreover, many players just do not turn up because they find the hostility that comes in the name of competitiveness very very discouraging. So I wonder how do these leagues help the development of the game and teams. 

More important I wonder where does the league membership money go? It is certainly not spent in terms of subsidising the club expenses or any other facilities -- at least FNCC has yet to enjoy the benefit of this membership fees. 

Typically the leagues are run by people who are not there for the development of cricket but to exert their authority and in most cases completely unjust authority. Players who play in these leagues try to use cricket a way to boost their ego and if they are being hampered by others in reaching this goal, either by better play or by the laws of the games, the do not stop from breaching the whole essence of cricket. 

By contrast, the non-league based matches are far more fun. People act like guests and hosts as opposed to two teams with sole goal to defeat the other team. In most cases irrespective of the result of the game, players from the opposition sit together share a drink and discuss the game. The short talks which often mature into long terms friendships. 

With the financial burden (membership fees are raised from the players) and unfriendly nature of matches in many ways discourages new players to come in the fold. This leaves teams in big cities stagnant because people do not move so much, and are in a position to bear the financial costs. In the smaller cities there are more consequences -- if new players cannot afford to play then the cricket is greatly reduced in the places as teams in smaller cities are usually composed of students who come to the University for a short duration (one or two seasons).

So I wonder how these amateur cricket leagues are run and more importantly the higher organizations like German Cricket Board and Swiss Cricket Board must review their policies to better run the club cricket. What is important is that there is space for teams who do not want to play in any leagues to find fixtures. That is, the league schedule should have enough free days to accommodate friendly games. Second, it would help if the leagues fees could be reduced if not completely removed and teams are informed how the money is being used.

More suggestions are of course welcome.

The conundrums will continue throughout the season but I am positive that we will find a way to maximize the Cricket and Fun factors, despite the increasing complexity of the problem.

right arm over
Arvind

The incompetence of Swiss Cricket Association and how it is damaging cricket

Cricket is a game that exceeds just mere skilful use of certain playing equipments (bat and ball) to overcome an opponent using the same (similar) set of equipments. Cricket is one of the longest field and team game. The thing that keep 22 players toiling over five days, or one day (or four hours in T20) is something more abstract -- some people call it spirit of cricket. It has a lot to do with the respect for the opponent, respect for the laws of the game, the respect of umpire. Tradition plays a bigger role than in any other sport. It is not just like that it is called a game of Gentlemen.

Now if on instances when players fail to follow the discipline of Cricket, refuse to respect the game, the authority of the umpire, neither they remain 'gentlemen' nor the game they play remains cricket. It might resemble cricket because these not-gentlemen still use bat and ball to do something.

Something very ugly happened in the semi-final match between Freiburg Nomads Cricket Club (FNCC) and Zurich Sri Lankan Cricket Club (ZSLCC) on Sept. 01, 2013 -- umpire was abused and threatened and asked to leave the field. This match not only showed the ugly face of ZSLCC players but it also exposed the incompetence of the Swiss Cricket Association (SCA) to hold the respect of Cricket and enforce discipline on the field. SCA's inability to deal with this issue in a neutral and fair manner only shows that such incidents will continue to happen because SCA implicitly endorses such incidents. Therefore, SCA is completely incompetent and is and will only damage the game of Cricket. 

Here is my account of the event before and after the Sept. 1 match. It is very frustrating and depressing to recall the events but it should be done for in future hopefully someone might not repeat.

At the toss
At the toss the neutral umpire Derren Kirby talked to the two captains and explained them his interpretation of the wide rule and LBW decision. For whatever reason he told the two captains that in case of the indiscipline he would award the match against the offending team. That time neither Vijay nor I could understand the significance of the last point.

The first innings
FNCC bowled first. The ball bounced and we took full advantage of that. Until drinks break we dominated as the ZSLCC was struggling with something like 60 on board with four or five wickets down. After drinks we became callous or the batsmen played with more commitment, either ways three partnerships happened and ZSLCC took the score to around 150. It was an imposing total. A couple of dropped catches costed us dearly but also our bowlers got a bit carried away with bowling too full or too short. 

Also the leg umpire who was a ZSLCC player refused to give any run outs. We could have complained but this is not FNCC's style of cricket.  Overall the innings was uneventful in the view of what happened later.

The second innings
We started our chase cautiously. Both Vijay and Rehan were looking in good touch but Rehan had to return retired hurt in 8th over because of cramps and injury he sustained when a ball hit him on the toe. Raghav and Vijay were looking good and we were near 40 without loss in 10th over. Everything was looking good at this point from the FNCC's viewpoint.

The ugly face of ZSLCC
In 10th over, a ball was judged wide by the neutral umpire, the bowler refused to accept the decision. Very quickly the situation escalated to a level when the umpire was threatened of physical assault, abused, questions were raised over his understanding of cricket. Imagine an English guy was abused for his race. And finally when the umpire asked the main offending player to leave the field, the ZSLCC players asked the umpire to leave the field instead. 

All this happened over a wide... imagine what might have happened over an LBW decision.

With such humiliation I completely understand when he refused to continue the match and awarded the match to FNCC. He was right within the set of playing conditions he defined and to which the two captains had agreed. 

I do not know the history, but at that time the meaning of the pre-toss agreement between the umpire and the captains had become more apparent. 

The immediate aftermath
With this the acting chairman of the SCA, a guy called Jai Singh who was there as a mere spectator emerged as the saviour of Cricket. According to him, we should forget the incident and continue to play and he would umpire. 

Why FNCC refused to continue [following is taken from my report to the games committee of the SCA]

- Darren was the only match official (appointed by the SCA) at the semi-final. When Darren, in his capacity of the only match official, declares us winners and leaves the field we have no other option than to accept his decision. 

- We could not accept Jay Singh's offer to resume the match with him being umpire, for the following reason:

1. How can you replace an umpire, the only neutral and non-striker's end umpire? Here is what cricket laws say about umpire change [http://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-3-the-umpires/]

2. Jay Singh was not the match official and was present more as a spectator. He did not even stay for the full match. Moreover, if we had listened to him we would have disregarded the official umpire -- set for the match was SCA. 

3. One full innings was umpired by Darren and from our previous experience we know that Jay and Darren have different style of umpiring. So there was a little chance that umpiring would have been done with same standards as previously set by Darren.

- At any point in the match FNCC showed no disrespect to anyone, even when there were good reasons. An SCA official declared us winner and we have to take that. Not that we would not have liked to have a clear win but when our opponents are not patient enough, it cant be our fault. It was too early to predict the result but we were in a strong position when the game was terminated. We consider it to be equally important to see that cricket is played with its full dignity and spirit. 

- So very importantly by resuming the game from that point onwards we were ignoring the shameful and directly endorsing ZSLCC behavior. That would have been perhaps even more shameful. FNCC does not endorse what ZSLCC players did on the field on Sunday Sept. 1, 2013. 

The aftermath: An illustration of the incompetence of SCA
Somehow our approach based on principals could not be understood by the SCA and ZSLCC took the issue to the games committee of the SCA.

FNCC sent their report. The umpire sent his report. Both these reports were sent to all relevant people. But ZSLCC apparently sent their report to the SCA committee only and nobody else got to see that. When asked Jai Singh refused to show it to FNCC saying that this was confidential. I wonder what they (sca and zslcc) had to hide.

Apparently three (not so) wise men of SCA had met and decided that the semifinal should be replayed. And that Jai Singh will let us know of the date and venue of the match as soon as possible. Here is the message from Jai Singh dated 10 Sept. 2013]
---

following the incident during the Semi finals played between Freiburg Nomads CC and ZSLCC the complaint by the umpire Mr. Darren Kirby was forwarded to the League committee. As you have been already informed the League committee was restructured , Bobby being removed( being a member of the involved club) and Rikin, a recognized umpire, from Eagle CC incorporated.

The league committee was given copies of the Complaint from the umpire, report of ZSLCC and mail from Freiburg CC chairman explaining their view.

The committee has finalized its decision which is as under:

1.       The umpire had no authority under the Law to award a game to any side. The so called agreement by Captains with the umpire was illegal.

2.       As the match was abandoned it has to be replayed.

3.        Bobby of ZSLCC has violated the code of conduct of players by arguing with the umpire. He is Banned from representing his club ZSLCC for 1 Match. This ban applies to all SCA official matches and comes into effect immediately.

I would like to remind all concerned that the decision of the League committee is final and will not be changed.

The match has to be replayed at the earliest possible date. SCA president is making arrangements to find neutral grounds and will inform both clubs of the date and venue.

Kind regards

J.Singh

For League Chairman SCA

--

So the SCA games committee thought that nothing extraordinary happened on Sept. 1, 2013. Only that the umpire they appointed for the game was wrong. They only remembered that the match was abandoned and conveniently forgot why the match was abandoned. 

I asked the SCA if they would be willing to pay the travel costs to FNCC because according to our logic it was no fault of ours that the match was abandoned. In fact, from our perspective we should have been the winner. Today (Sept. 20th, 2013) I got a mail from Devesh Mathur (another member of the SCA executive committee). 

Firstly SCA does not pay for  any costs of the participants. You were asked to finish the match by Jai as the Acting Chairman of the League, it would have saved a lot of problems if you had continued even under protest. You did not agree.

Now according to this message, it was the fault of the FNCC that umpire declared FNCC the winner and the SCA acting chairman disagreed with the umpire and wanted us to resume the match. In fact, Devesh's message further means that SCA is doing a favor to us for letting us play again. What a bunch of morons these sca people!!

On top of this FNCC does not even have the right to protest when someone is blatantly robbing Cricket of its essences.  I really wonder what kind of precedence these SCA officials want to set or have set. In my opinion not playing was the only option left for FNCC because by doing anything else we were simply supporting whatever ZSLCC people did to the umpire. 

I am not sure if Derren Kirby (the umpire in question) is in the good books of the SCA's so called three wise men otherwise they would have bent any rule to uphold his decision.

Implications:
I am not sure they do or can understand the implications of their decision. They have done practically nothing to stop such ugly incidents from happening. Now imagine a hypothetical scenario in which one of our player refuses to accept Jai Singh's decision in the replay of the semifinal and instead ask him to leave the field and let someone else umpire. Same happens again. What will SCA do? Again abandon the game? Ban the payer? But same can happen second and third and so on... there are enough players. I am not sure the SCA people have the sense and ability to predict how their decision has completely damaged the game the way it is played.

I worried if a Cricket association cannot enforce discipline, ensure that its officials are listened to and respected during the match, how can they preserve and maintain the true nature of cricket and spirit of the game. These lame associations have no moral right to run and control cricket in any form. More than the offending ZSLCC players I will blame SCA for what happened.

I tired hard but no matter what and how you argue these SCA officials have a closed brain and anything logical cannot enter through their ears. 


Before the semifinal
Making decisions that serve some non-cricketing interests is not new to the SCA. In the course of the league we saw many rules being bent or interpreted for connivence of some. Here are some examples.

There was a long discussion on the final ranking of teams after the league phase. Rules said that net run-rate will be used to break the tie in case two teams have same points. 
'Net run rate is defined as: The run rate shall be decided by the total number of runs scored in all completed League matches, divided by the number of wickets lost. [colors are as in the original document]

I fail to understand how someone could came up with such definition of 'net run rate'. This is a definition of batting average. Who uses batting average of two teams to break the tie in a league? Even if we accept that there is a inherent disparity in this measure because when a team get walk over they do not get any 'batting average'. 

But there was no way to make the SCA people think of this unfairness -- afterall it was not our fault that other teams gave us walkover. In any case, we accepted to be at the second spot. 

Then came up the issue of location of the semi-final. First set of rules said that semifinals and final will be held in Basel. But during the league phase we were told that the first and second team will get to play their semifinal at their home ground. However, when it came up to play in Freiburg, ZSLCC asked to go back to the older rules. Otherwise they were even willing to offer their ground to the other two teams for the semifinal.

Nobody objected when almost every rule was being bent, be it the start of the match, or number of overs per match, bonus points, neutral umpires or match report or anything else. But when it came of the league rankings or location of the match suddenly everyone had a great desire to go back to the original set of rules just because they were in their favor.

In my understanding the rules were changed and re-changed and interpreted only to the convenience of certain people who are considered more than equal, a set that does not include FNCC. I get the impression that factor unrelated to cricket govern the decision making process.

In summary, my experience with SCA is that the bunch of people who are running the show have no desire to think through the problems and learning from the experiences made over the long history of Cricket. 

With such incompetent and spineless administration, the Swiss Cricket Association is like swiss cheese -- full of holes.

We made several very good friends in this season, played against some very good players and witnessed some amazing cricket. Hopefully, this behavior of the few incompetent SCA officials which has made the SCA league a very sour experience will not effect our friendship with various teams and players.

right arm over
Arvind

Rain ruined an exciting match: FNCC vs Basel CC

FNCC remains undefeated by Basel CC, but this match promised surprises the way Basel started the chase but alas... rain stole an exciting finish. While we wanted to ensure our place in semi-finals, Basel wanted to break the jinx and get their first points but when you play against rain, only cricket looses.

FNCC innings:
Vijay opened with Rehan, who returned after a gap of few weeks. Both looked solid. They gave us a very solid and attacking start. They dominated the new ball attack and that gave them some breathing space when spinners came on. Just as we failed to get a wicket for 26 overs againsta GenevaSLCC, our openners remained unseparated until 20th over. Vijay made 40+ and Rehan showd his class in making 80+. Saghir did not have much time but he is in a great touch these days. These three stand performances covered the failure of the rest of the batting. Feyas and Arpit did show some courage to score runs. But our inexperience against good slow bowling of Adeel and Toufeem was clearly exposed.

210 runs was an imposing total for 30 overs. This score however does not reflect the lopsided performances by the FNCC batsmen. Twice Basel bowlers were looking for hattricks. At one point perhaps they did but the umpire (i.e. me) declined a very enthusiastic appeal against Balaji. So if at all we only learned partly.


Basel Inning:
Basel started in an attacking mode. I was struck for two fours in my first over. Saghir was in better form and he contained runs. But Zaheer and Umer gave Basel CC a started that they needed to chase a score of 210 in 30 overs. My shin splints started to bother me already in the second over and I was sitting outside already in the eigth over. Score was cruising along at a healthy rate of 6 runs and importantly Zaheer was in full flow. An exciting match was underway.

But by this time the clouds were already coming to watch (ruin) the match. Umer lost his patience to Rehan's bowling (yes he can bowl -- at times very effectively). On one end Zaheer was driving the score and other end was kept in solid defence. It was a strategy that was working well. But then came a turning point. Zaheer was adjudged out hitting the ball twice [see below for more on this]. This was over number 13th and we needed to bowl at least 15 overs to call it a legal match.

With the rain rule, Basel CC needed to have scored 105 runs at the end of 15th over. They were 82 ot 85 in 14.4. Rain was getting stronger and we wanted to get over with the remaining two balls. It should have happened. But then had a great idea. In a giant stroke of genius he got himself run-out -- meaning the match had to interrupted for the change in batsman and with rain getting string by the drop, it was just not possible to continue.

While, Rehan, Vijay, Saghir set the match up and Zaheer made it exciting, it was the conspiracy of rain and Shubhu that saved Basel from facing another defeat ;) 

Rain rule:
I wonder why Swiss league decided for a simple rule. They should know that simple does not mean correct. I had argues for Duckworth-Lewis method. Now mobile phone apps are there two calculate D-L par scores but the applicable rain rule only care for scoring rate without considering the wickets. After 15 overs at any point if the match is interrupted then only net-average run rate is used to calculate the score. At one point Basel CC needed about 130 runs on 17 overs with 7 or 8 wickets in hand. With about eight overs lost, they needed 81 runs in 11 overs with same number of wickets in hand -- clearly an easier thing to do. DL would have given a different par-score. Something to change in the next round as we do expect the clouds to watch some of our cricket... I mean, its not really 'cricket' if some time is not lost because of rain.


Out hitting the ball twice:
I was hurt, less because of my injury, more because I had to sit out. But I was acutely aware of the importance of the wicket of Zaheer. So when I saw him touching the ball again after he had played a defensive shot, I suggested for an appeal for 'hitting the ball twice'. Our team duly complied and umpire  (from Basel CC) after some discussion adjudged the batsman out. It was disappointing end of a beautiful innings.

Then comes rain (for the first time) and in the break we had a chance to see the rules again? It turned out that the rule of very ambiguous, that is there is no clear way to say whether the batsman is saving the wickets or not. In Zaheer's case we immediately realised that he was dealt with unfairly. So FNCC decided to invite him to bat again. But Zaheer is a very proud man and a great sportsman and understand cricket. He, in the true spirit of the game accepted the decision (albeit wrong). Thats how cricket should be played. Thus, he may not add runs to his name but certainly increased his respect among his peers.

The league semifinal will be on 25th Aug. Few teams are already out i.e. Basel CC, Eagel CC. But other six are still in the fray. FNCC needs to win at least two of the three remaining match but we want to push to top the league phase to get the semi-final in Freiburg. But lot was exposed in the rain ruined match. Batting lapses are easily visible but more worrisome were the cracks in the bowling. I need to to work on my fitness, this is not fair to anyone if I play with injuries and we need a second spinner. At the same time out batting needs more practice against slow/spin bowling.

right arm over
Arvind

FNCC held their nerves to defeat Geneva Srilankans in the Swiss cricket league

It is remarkable that we have managed to win four games in a row despite continued failure of the middle order in last three matches. We lost five middle order wickets in space of 30 runs and about five overs. But it was an important game and we are very very happy to have defeated one of the strongest teams in the league. There were talks of revenge victory after the game but come on, there is no such thing in cricket. Every match is a new one played in different conditions and mostly with different teams. 

SLCC innings
On a relatively unknown wicket GSLCC decided to bat first. It made sense because they are a better bowling side. Their openers played to their strength, while the scoring rate was slow (around 4) they remained on the wicket until the 26th overs. FNCC has never toiled that long for a wicket. We expected that they will accelerate after the drinks break but for some reason they were happy with the scoring rate. We knowing our pitch, outfield and batting, knew that it was not going to enough. So in the expectation of some attacking batting we kept going with the defensive approach. 

In the 26th over first wicket fell to Saghir and then for some reason we thought that we could even bowl them out. I was not that optimistic because we had only 9 overs remaining. But Saghir is always very confident. So we again turned to Arpit who continued to take 3 wickets per match. After a long time I took a caught and bowled wicket. And GSLCC lost 8 wickets in the space of 20 runs and nine overs. 

Our bowling as really great. Everybody bowled superbly. It was just a coincidence that Arpit, Saghir and I got the chance to bowl in the death overs and claimed wickets. Any other bowler from our side could have gotten wickets in that stage. I guess that GSLCC were waiting for some second string bowling but in this current FNCC side there is no such thing, each bowler is highly skilled and capable. 

We struggled a bit in the field. I was especially guilty -- mis-judged a catch that became a six (sorry Arpit) and mis-fielded twice to give away boundaries. It was one of those rare days when even Saghir mis-fielded. 

FNCC innings
Chasing 147 in 35 overs was doable but a certain degree of commitment was needed. With Arpit's batting form, it was decided to open with Raghav and Vijay. Raghav returned to cricket after a long break and was playing his first match of the season. And he grabbed the opportunity by both hands and with a solid batting. Together with Vijay he gave us a cracking start. At one point score was 32 in five overs. At that score Vijay was brilliantly caught at square-leg. He was looking in ominous touch. Perhaps Basel will have to pay the price that catch in the next match. 

But Raghav kept the score ticking and at a healthy rate such that other batsmen had no pressure of scoring. It was specially good for Feyas who was also playing his first match of the league. Feyas struggled a bit and clearly he needs to be quick on getting to the ball. It was remarkable how easy it was for Raghav to bat that Saghir took the back seat for a while. 

When Raghav got out after a brilliant fifty we needed 30 something runs and we made a mess of the situation. Angelo, Balaji and Bala failed to make any serious contribution. In second consecutive match I got to bat. When I went in we needed nine runs and Saghir was on the other end, so that was enough to give me confidence. But while going in I was again remembering the my mis0fielding that gave the GSLCC as many as 10 extra runs and I did not want to lose. So we did not. 

It was just a great feeling to defeat a good team. But the whole atmosphere was a bit sore as our guests did not agree with the umpiring decisions. It was indeed a shame that they felt compelled to question the umpires -- this is not our style and neither could appreciate GSLCC's behavior. 

Irrespective of this, in my opinion it was a very good match. While on our side Raghav and Saghir took the anchoring of batting, supported by a great bowling performance, on the GSLCC side their openers Sachin and Hasan showed great determination to give their team a solid base. Hasan later bowled superbly. Only during his bowling I learned he was observing a fast as it is the holy month of Ramadan. By his performance it was clear that his gods were on his side.

FNCC still needs to improve
I often think that the best way to judge the strength of a team is to see it in terms of how often lower order batsmen get to bat. I recall in their pomp, Glenn McGrath rarely batted for Australia. In fact, he batted only once/twice in world cup matches despite playing in four of them and winning three. 

The fact that Nila and me are getting a chance to bat clearly shows that we are not a strong team. Our middle order is failing us again and again. There is no amount of urging from Vijay seems sufficient. In name of their natural game, we are bringing the team to the brink of loosing. This is something where we need to work and it is the players who bat between 5-8 places have to rethink their job for the team and accordingly shape their innings. They can do it and we have to make sure that they get a chance to do it in the practice. Another area we have reinforce ourselves is fielding.  In any case overall the team is looking good. 

On the umpiring, cricket and its spirit
We expected a very pleasant match -- an opinion we formed after our visit to GSLCC last season. Alas it was not to be...

Sports do not make characters they reveal it by providing certain very specific situations of your character. How do you behave when you are dominating, when you are down and struggling to keep your head up, when you win or when you loose, when conditions are favorable or the tide is against you and so. I do not know if there is any other human activity that can test you in so many different situations. 

GSLCC appeared a different team when we saw them last year and earlier in the T20 tournament. On those occasions they were the winning side in conditions that suited them. Sunday last they were in somewhat unfamiliar situation and dominated by the FNCC. Their behavior was hardly respectable and justified and certainly unacceptable from a team of their calibre. 

Why is that when FNCC defeats GSLCC (who in their opinion could be a weaker team) that pitch and poor umpiring become the cause and when they defeated in their home territory that was just that they were a better team. 

It just cannot be that our umpires made a wrong decision every time and their umpire was fair just because we do not like to question umpires' decisions to the extent that we do not even discuss that. Human error is always their -- professional and highly rated umpires make error. But one thing is very clear that umpire is always in the in best position to judge the validity of a ball and LBWs and we have accept this fact. This is in my opinion umpires are held at such level and their decisions are respected because despite their falliability they remain in the best position to make a decision.

The pitch
Since the pitch was heavily criticised by GSLCC I am forced to add this. 
I admit we play on a strange wicket. It is difficult (but no impossible) to get a good bounce in the flicx wicket. In any case the bounce remains consistent (on the lower side). A large part of the cricket is about mastering different wickets. Just because one is unfamiliar with a certain wicket does not outrightly renders that wicket unacceptable. We could as complain that the wickets in Geneva was too bouncy!! But we do not, we accept it as a part of Cricket. 

We have one of the best outfields and if only you can control your game, there are enough runs in the wicket. We have been using the flicx wicket for over 10 years and we have hosted many teams. 

So if GSLCC is still blaming the pitch and umpiring for their loss they need to rethink their cricket.


right arm over
Arvind

Saghir made sure that Rhine cup will stay in Freiburg for yet another year

Cricket is played in bursts. There are pauses of 10-30sec. between deliveries and slightly longer between overs. These pauses are interrupted by very sharp and calculated actions at last for about a second. While this pauses and fast activity characterised the state of affair for the batsman and bowler int he middle, there are even longer pauses for the batsmen who have yet to come in and bowlers who are waiting to bowl and fielders who are waiting for the ball to come to them. 

It is these pauses that separate Cricket from other sports and make one of the most cerebral games after Chess. Thinking can lead to proper planning, calculated risks and eventually a victory despite odds. But thinking can also set in the panic and it is very easy to loose even from a winning situation. This is something that happened in Basel last Sunday.


FNCC innings
We posed a modest target. 145 runs in 35 overs on a wicket with true bounce. Our batting struggled to come in terms with the bounce in early overs and spin in the later overs. Except for Vijay and Saghir none of us looked in any shape to score freely. Vijay was very watchful and selective, while Saghir was in a mood to destroy the spinners' confidence to make it easier for the following batsmen. Both had their moment of success. But except for helping each other in the most important partnership of our innings, there was nobody help them. Bala did show some resistance and will to make runs but once again there was not much support for him. 

We expected Adnan, Vibhore and Angelo to fire up the batting. Unfortunately Adnan was hit by a rising delivery on his right thumb. Adnan perhaps learned that hard lesson that defending a PhD thesis (which he did last week) is easier than defending a rising delivery. Now he is out of action for at least three weeks as they had to remove the nail. Vibhore underestimated the abilities of the spinners, particularly Jit Singh, the senior bowler had lot of fun with him. Angelo did not show patience to get the eye in. 

In any case we did well to play the 35 overs. Since the rules were a bit different in this match, we did not get so many wides. A big credit to the Basel bowlers who kept our batsmen guessing, especially the three spinners. Danny on the other hand exploited the new ball. He should have got more wickets for the quality of his bowling. A lot of credit to Zaheer for orchestrating the bowling and fielding. Not at all easy when some senior players are in the team.

Basel Innings
The ball was bouncing and I was enjoying it. But Zaheer was in very defensive mood. Not that he was not going to whack the loose balls but there was no interest in taking risks. Why should he? He knew that if he stayed on 145 runs in 35 overs required no heroics. The score was around 20 runs in 8 overs but the openers were still batting. 

Then came Arpit, and struck on the second ball. That brought in Jit Singh. We expected a quick wickets but then there is something to experience. While Zaheer time and again went for boundaries, Jit was happy to be in the middle without any panic. Vijay tried and so did our bowlers. But except for a couple of half chances Basel were on their way. Slowly the heads of the FNCC were going down.

Bala was given the ball and Zaheer had a lapse of attention and tossed the ball to Shiva. The hope came back. But Danny and Jit were not easy. And took the score to 120s. The run rate remained more or less in the range of four an over. This shows our determination but also the cautious attitude that Basel took. 

The thrilling finish
At some point when the score was hovering around 100 for 2 in 25 overs, I was thinking about the inevitable. But cricket is never over until the last wicket has fallen, last run has been scored or last ball has been bowled. But the realisation of the inevitable pumped new energy. Saghir who was forcing himself to bowl despite a pulled muscle in his back, got Jit out caught by Angelo. This was the key point in the match. 

While panic set in Basel camp, FNCC were pumped with success. But Basel needed 19 runs off four overs and they had six wickets in hand. Nila translated that energy into a wicket. Score was still in 120s and Basel had lost five wickets. Arpit bowled a genius of an over. He claimed two wickets in that over and another one was run out. Sagheer took another wicket and we were really sniffing victory. When I started off the 34 over Basel needed 14 runs off two overs and one wicket in hand. 

At this point two young brothers were at the crease (sons of Jit Singh). I wanted to win but suddenly I lost the drive to bowl. Somehow I did not consider them worthy opponent. But I was so wrong and Anil took just two deleiveries to tell me how wrong I was. First bowl was a loosner on the legs and defended nicely. The second a half-volley out side the off stump, not very fast and was smacked in the covers. Perhaps the best show of the match. This was however, enough to wake me up and the match was over on the next ball...

Arpit finished with 3 wickets, Saghir and Nila got two, Bala and myself took 1 each. And there was one run out. Since we took the match to the 34 over all the bowlers were very economical. I was particularly pleased with my bowling, while I was not effective in taking wickets, I kept Zaheer and Danny (the two who faced most of my bowling) tied up and finished with 6.3-2-12-1. in retrospect it was not a bad strategy on my part to keep the scoring rate low for other bowlers to feel a bit safe in terms of runs.

Once again Cricket was played in the brain and the display on the match only reflected the state of the two teams. While one panicked other took the advantage. We were of course well trained in the last match when we lost a close finish. 

We won
Indeed it was good to win, especially in such a close match. We have to give credit to Basel for putting up a great show and fight. We have to remember that they had fielded a rather inexperienced and perhaps under-trained side. 

So despite the win there is a lot to learn for us. We cannot face the Geneva Srilankan team with such performance. Our bowling was decent. Saghir and I were only economical but not effective in taking wickets. The second line of attack also did not come very effective. And we certainly need someone to back up Arpit in the spin department. However, it is our batting which is more of a concern. 

Saghir is back in batting form which is a great news. With Vijay already in runs, there is some stability in the top order. But the middle order needs to improve their act, desperately. We need runs from Vibhore and Angelo and support for Bala.


Umpiring
It was really nice of Darren Kirby to officiate the match as an umpire. He did a good job. 

There are no rules in cricket. We only have laws and they have to interpreted by the umpires. He came up with a very interesting interpretation of the wide rule. According to his interpretation, if a batsman flashes his bat to reach the ball, the ball couldnt be called wide. He was consistent with both the teams, that part is fine. But I cannot agree with his interpretation and many share my opinion [see also]. I thought that only on LBWs people can have their own opinion and wide was a relatively easy thing. Evidently, Darren needs to rethink his interpretation.

Rhine cup 
This year we decided to play only one match. This victory not only kept our record clean against Basel but also ensured that the Rhine cup will stay in Freiburg for the third year in running. Great work FNCC. The match ball was given to Adnan and Saghir very fittingly was the man of the match.

A special thanks to Jason Ransome to help out with Adnan's injury. It was just when he left the field with Adnan that Basel started to dominate the match. They took some time to return but when they did, FNCC resumed being the dominating team. Well I am not superstitious but I do study, define and detect patterns in my day-job...

right arm over
Arvind

So near yet so far: Zurich Nomads prevail in the tight finish

How close a cricket match can go? Of course a tie is very thrilling and entertaining. Besides that single run can decide the winner. Likewise single wicket -- but with that it is a bit difficult to judge the closeness of the match. Today is a story of a match which was won and lost by one wicket.

We batted first. Arpit and Vijay gave us a quite but solid start. Arpit was strangely sedated today. Vijay in the other hand was in a good nick and scored 34 runs. They very well braced the challenge of neutralizing some very good and controlled swing bowling first from  Faheem and later from Vickey. Balaji came in to replace Arpit in 10th over. He looked good enough to take on the bowling. After Vijay got out we had a little middle order collaps. Saghir was again unlucky. 

I did not see the best part of Vibhore and Adnan's batting but they kept the score going at a healthy rate of 4-4.5 runs oer over. Adnan score 14 runs with only one boundary -- meaning he is getting his confidence. He I am told was adjudged LBW on an inside edge -- very unfortunate but such decisions happen and we cant do much.

But the row Zurich Nomads created on that decision does not suit their team and certainly does not reflect the quality of cricket that was played today.

Vibhore (who celebrated his birthday yesterday) looked to mix attack and defence. While they did score runs, they missed out on some single -- which could have made a difference.

Then came a cameo from Bala who hit some powerful blows and tried to accelerate the innings. Against a very good frontline bowling attack and average follow up 161 runs was a decent score. We would have wanted to few more. In fact the result left us asking of just a few more but thats always the case in tight matches. 

Saghir and Rahul started our defence. The Zurich nomads batsmen looked quite but comfortable. I quickly replaced Rahul but leaked out too many runs in my first over. Actually me and Nila were not supposed bowl and I was really struggling to find my rhythm. In my third over two wickets fell to raise the confidence of our side. 

Arpit topped it up with his peculiar start -- by claiming a wicket on his first ball. This was followed by a run out. But from here on we lost the grip over the match. Vickey steadily raised the score. Fifth wicket partnership was in range of 60+runs. He miscued a full-toss from Arpit to Shiva. Once again few wickets fell in that bursts. But again the eight wicket partnership was extended for too long. This was partly because of the some elegant batting from Faheem. He was also tossed one of Arpit's fulltoss to Nila. Thats the first time we smelled a victory.

Faheem was the difference today between the two sides, duely supported by Vickey. These two guys bowled well and them batted even better -- unfortunately (and fortunately for us) both fell to full-toss deliveries of Arpit. While fall of Vickey was a respite for the FNCC, it was Faheem's departure that gave use real hope. We needed to take 2 wicket and they needed 18 runs to win. Alas some  poor fielding, indiscipline in the bowling and stubbornness of Sangam's batting the ninth wicket fell (a run out) when they needed three runs. Saghir tried his best to stretch the game but on the fourth bowl of the last over it was all over. 

I talked about how every match is revealing new aspects of the FNCC character. It takes a great deal to accept the defeat gracefully. When the finish is so close as today's it is difficult judge who actually is the winner -- indeed the victory in such matches is largely a statistical fluctuation. We for instance won such a thriller against Strasbourgh in 2010. Nevertheless the margin of victory aptly describes the difference in the two teams in such matches.

This was not the first time that one/two batsmen took the game away from us. Almost a similar match was played against Winterthur last year. We lost that time in an attempt to defend 159 just because one batsman stayed for a bit too long and took the game away from us. We certainly needed to spot this trend and work to correct this. First we let Faheem settle and then gave him a field that he could score runs freely. I do not want to take anything away from him, he played a superb innings. But this is an area we need to work hard.

There were several positives of the match. This being a non-league game we experimented with out batting. We for the first time got to see Vibhore (who debuted) and Rahul's batting potential. Likewise Bala repeated his succeses of Uster game here as well with some towering sixes. Balaji showed some potential to bat at the top of the order. And very importantly Adnan reached to double figures after a long time. This positives when added can only signal the strength of our batting. Yes, Arpit and Saghir needs to lift their game. Saghir's bad luck continued and I hope that the law of averages will come in play for him. He cant stay away from real action for too long.

Bowling was ok today -- we almost defended 161 runs. But we are not effective against left-hand batsmen. Extras are still leaking -- today we gave away 24 runs as extras.

Fielding was excellent in patches. When runs started to flow we somehow became excessively defensive and accordingly the bowling. Guru needs to get his basics right for wicket-keeping. He does not talk and very importantly rarely appeals. With his appeal we can only dream of getting LBWs. But he has reflexes to develop in to a good wicket-keeper.

In any case, with this match we have known  our limits. And now the challenge is to further extend them. Despite defeat I could the feeling of self-discovery on many faces and thats what we gained from this defeat (a defeat never leave uneducated).

right arm over
Arvind

PS: It was FNCC debute of Vibhore (who scored 33), Shiva (a first ball duck -- actually first ball ever he faced on the flix wicket), Eldho (How much did he score?). and Guru. Welcome to the club guys.